Page 36 of Slow Burn

Elijah motioned for her to join him in his office. Once she sat down, she didn’t appear to be comfortable at all. Well, it was the same for him. He wasn’t known to be touchy-feely, but something about Sloane was telling him she needed to talk.

“What’s wrong?” he flat-out asked her. No reason to beat around the bush.

She tightened the ponytail her curly brown hair was tied up in. “Why would you think something is wrong?”

“Besides you wearing down the carpet outside my door?” Elijah deadpanned.

Defiantly, she crossed her arms. “I was getting my steps in.”

“Bullshit.” Elijah didn’t hesitate to respond. “We had two fires yesterday, and today we assisted Chesapeake City with a crash that had eight vehicles. You’ve been running around for almost forty-eight hours. You’ve gotten your steps.”

Sloane bit her lip, and he prayed to all things holy she wasn’t about to cry.

He narrowed his eyes. “I’m only asking you one more time. Is everything okay?”

“Do you really want to know?” she responded with a nervous reaction, her eyes bouncing all over the room. Notably not looking at him.

And to be honest, no, he didn’t want to know. This seemed beyond his emotional capacity, but he also strived to be a good lieutenant, and taking care of his crew was part of that.

He nodded once.

“I have a friend who is new in town,” Sloane started to debrief him but stopped.

If she was waiting for him to ask for more details, she would be waiting a long time. He already didn’t want to be in the middle of whatever drama she had with this friend.

She took a deep breath. “This is between us, right?”

“Do I look like the type who gossips?”

Sloane chuckled. “Fair. Okay, back to my friend, his name is Dane. He’s only been living in Landmere for a week, and he already has a date. I’m not a monster, and I want him to have friends, but one week in is a bit fast. Dane hasn’t even met her yet, but apparently she’s a doctor who recently moved back to town. One of his colleagues at the school set him up.”

Elijah sat straight like there was a rod in his back. This suspiciously sounded like Dane was getting set up with Georgia.

“Your friend works in the school?”

Sloane groaned. “Dane is the new second-grade teacher. Sophie set him up with one of her friends. You can’t say anything because I don’t know if Nash would care, but Dane is going out with Georgia. I mean, what other new doctor is in Landmere?”

Fuck, now Sloane’s problem really was his problem.

She was talking a mile a minute. “Georgia is beautiful, and obviously smart being a doctor and all, but I know Dane, and she isn’t his type. Not in a bad way, but she’s way too upbeat for him. Maybe I am overreacting. Perhaps the date is with someone else? I want Dane to be happy, but he doesn’t need to fall in love.”

Love?

“I thought you said it was a blind date?” Elijah grunted through a clenched jaw while pulling his shirt from his chest, determined to get some air.

“It is, but he seems actually excited to meet her, which isn’t Dane. We’ve been friends since kindergarten, and he’s never had a girlfriend. He’s like most of you here at the station. Being single works for him.”

Yes, Elijah tried like hell to remind himself of that. He was happy being single.

“Now he moves here and is suddenly ready to date. It doesn’t sit right with me.”

It didn’t sit well with Elijah either.

As casual as he could muster, he asked, “Do you know where they are going?”

“They’re going to Zingos tomorrow night,” she told him. “Low-key, with things to do if they aren’t hitting it off, you know?”

Zingos was a bar with bowling lanes, arcade games, and laser tag, popular with kids during the day. After nine at night, it was adults-only. It was the perfect spot for a first date, one Elijah was sure Georgia would love.